PHEASANTS 



FOE COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



CHAPTEE I. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PHEASANTS. 



HABITS, FOOD, STEUCTURE, ETC. 



[HE PHEASANTS, properly so called (as dis- 

 tinguished from tlie allied but perfectly distinct 

 groups which include the Gold and Silver pheasants, 

 the Kaleege, the Monaul, &c.) constitute the genus or 

 t group known to naturalists under the title Phasianus. 

 Of the true pheasants no less than thirteen distinct 

 species have been described by Mr. D. G. Elliott, in his 

 magnificent 'monograph on the Phasianidae. Of these 

 several are known only by rare specimens ' of their skins 

 brought from scarcely explored Asiatic countries, and others 

 cannot be regarded as anything more than mere local or 

 geographical varieties of well known species. Since the 

 publication of Elliott's Phasianidse several additional species 

 have been described. 



Without including, however, such birds as have, from 

 their rarity or other causes, no practical interest to English 

 game preservers, there remain several well known species 

 that will require our careful consideration. Such are : The 

 common pheasant {Phasianus colchicus), now generally diifused 



B 



